Is he dying? :/In that case, I'm really sorry, you tried your best :/ Maybe he simply was too sick to help :/You might want to euthanize him to ease his pain if you see that he's gotten worse. There's no need to keep medicating if the fish is getting worse. (In your case at least where you're already treating as well as possible!)

Thought I'd share some more info on the disease though, just in case there's still something you can do! (And if there's something I found that you didn't )

Velvet disease is caused by parasitic organisms commonly referred to as Oodium, in the freshwater aquarium.The symptoms may be:- Yellow/gray coating of the skin and fins (Including the strange "gold sprinkles")- Scraping against rocks or ornaments- Increased gill movementsIn more severe cases:- The fish lies motionless in the water- Skin peels off in strips- Fish stops eating

The parasite spreads through spores, which can live away from fish for at least 24 hours, sometimes even several days. It's usually introduced with new fish and may develop into very serious problems. If the parasites infest the gills, they may kill the fish without any certain symptoms being shown, they can also establish within the fishes' guts, where they will escape treatment.The Oodinium is most persistent in Goldfish among other types of tropical fish.

To treat this disease, you can use a special velvet remedy, ich medication, a broad spectrum anti-parasite medication, and of course: salt. During treatment it would help keeping the tank DARK. This will keep the parasites from performing their photosynthesis and delay the spore development! Raising the temp to the mid eighties or 90 F in the main system for three weeks should also help, provided that you're treating the infected fish separately as high temp speeds up the life cycle of these parasites, which will die without hosts.

He died last night before I went to sleep. I don't understand why he responded so well to Maracide the first two days, then declined the third day. The bugs should have no longer been attacking. I wonder if that medicine is no good, but lots of people like it. His dorsal fin was a little down when I bought him.I cried last night, I get too attached.Thanks for the details Nossie. I had already read those and did everything but raise the temp, which the medicine said didn't need.

Velvet is hard to treat and best successful treatment is at the earliest stages.Sometimes the medication kills the fish because he is so weakened by the disease.I'm very sorry for your loss. You did everything you possibly could for him.RIP Little Fish....

NO! That is not a good idea to treat only half strength.That won't kill the parasite but make it stronger thus weakening the fish even more.The parasite is a leech and sucks the life out of the fish.Heat and salt help plus melafix and pimafix help secondary infection from forming as the parasite leaves holes in the fish.Think of it as a dog with ticks all over it's body. Miserable and the ticks are sucking the life out of the dog so the dog becomes anemic. If you only used half a treatment to kill the ticks, it wouldn't kill all of them but make them stronger and more resistant to treatment in the long run thus making the dog even weaker the longer he has the ticks.

Anyway, Summertime you did all you could for that fish.He looked as if he had several things going on with him besides the velvet.He looked to me like he had fin rot and was just unhealthy from the get go.Fish are under so much stress with shipping and not always are they treated when they get to the pet shop and here comes along some nice person like you who is a beginner fish owner and then has a sick fish to deal with when the fish could have been harboring disease and not have been that hardy to begin with. You did a good job tryuing to help this fish. Sometimes no matter what we do they die any way.I'm so sorry for you and I hope you find another healthy fish soon.

I agree with Mindemae to 100%! No matter what, you should always follow the instructions of dosage on the bottles of medication!! There are lots of discussions going on whether medication for aquarium fish should even be available as there are many, many people who are misusing it and thus creating parasites and bacteria that are immune to meds. Not to mention that all the chemicals inside medication are very, very harmful!!

I know just how it is to treat and treat and treat a sick fish that just won't get better Always pretty sad... but I do hope you'll find another beautiful fish soon

There was a lot of silence during this post, that made me think I was attempting something that was futile. I'm glad I tried tho, and learned a little bit. Hate to learn the hard way tho. I have never had such a hard time with goldfish before. At least I used a quarantine tank this time.

About the medicine dosage - I'm really impressed with the knowledge that you have. Now I understand why it's so important to follow directions exactly, which I have always done, and will continue to do.

I still have a lot to learn. My daughter's new fish is doing great! And came from the same Petsmart and the same tank.

My next task is to read up on sterilizing tanks and get this quarantine set up again, because Petsmart owes me a free fish if I bring in my receipt (plus I want to tell them what I just went thru). Believe it or not, they seem to have the best goldfish in this whole area.

aww this is a sweet pic. I was in a local petsmart today picking up supplies and decided to check out all their fish. They had some really healthy looking/acting ones and some very ill. It broke my heart to see one that had an entire pectoral fin missing and eye destroyed. There were others not so poorly but clearly in bad shape. The staff were oblivious. It's big business unfortunately but I do hope to set up another tank so I can try to help like you did with your fish. Glad your daughter's is doing great and wish you well

I'm sorry to hear he didn't make it But you really did all you could and I bet your fish appreciated that. Velvet sounds like a horrible disease and I think many people would have problems with treating it. It is very stressful to be shipped around for any animal even humans so just know it wasn't your fault.

Glad to hear your other fish is doing well

Nossie: That's a pretty interesting point with the medication debate, would melafix be included in that? That and salt is the only thing I have ever used but I know some people who just seem to be never ending using medication because that just can't seem to sort out their water quality and keep buying fish without quarantining them, due to their own selfishness I don't what medications are actually available here.

Summertime,I can faintly see spots on the fish's tail in this new picture from when you first brought him home.Here is a tip that I posted somewhere on here. When choosing a fish have the sales person put him in a clear plastic bag and hold him up so you can see him real good in the light . Look really close and make sure everything is alright with him. No torn fins/tail, no spots, no wounds, no missing scales and his dorsal fin should be up. Take a magnifying glass with you and look real close. If you notice something wrong, reject him and select another fish from a different tank. Sometimes tho, the incubation for these diseases can be 2 weeks, so the fish may not show any symptoms until you've had him home for awhile. That's why quarantine is so important and some hobbiest recommend quarantine for a month! While my fish is in quarantine I use the magnifyer and observe the fish real closely during the quarantine time. I even use it once in awhile to observe my fish in their tanks and make sure everything is going ok and treat accordingly if necessary.

My daughter's new fish came out of this same tank at the store. He was quarantine separately for 2 weeks and is in her regular tank. He seems really healthy, but maybe I should have quarantined him longer?

I think your daughters new fish will be fine. Most people quarantine 2 weeks.When I bought my first oranda I left him in quarantine a month I was so scared something would happen to him. HAHA I was like a nervous mother hen! I always add aquarium salt to my quarantine tank when I bring a new fish home. It just helps reduce the stress better. It helps give the fish some electrolytes and helps with gill function. I don't usually treat with melafix unless a torn fin shows up or the fish seems stressed, like sitting on the bottom of the tank. Usually a 3 day treatment is like a tonic and puts them on the mend, so that is enough.The bleach treatment to the tank will be morre than sufficient. Rinse well and I would add a double dose of water conditioner and also beneficial bacteri booster such as stresszyme by API right into the filter media. This will help jump start the cycling process. You might want to add a tiny bit of fish flakes too to feed the bacteria and help get it established.

I can see something on my Android, because the picture is smaller and clearer. I wouldn't guess they were spots tho, but the tail looks darker than it should be. I'm buying a magnifying glass before selecting another fish.

Yeah I was referring to the fish's tail. If you look real close you can see a goldish darking or spottiness on the tail. Because the tail is white it shows up easier. Good point pappy! I added stresszyme to my tanks last night!

Andrea: I really don't know that much about the debate to be honest d: But I'm pretty sure it's mainly about the stronger medications that contain more chemicals. In general, salt and more natural remedies are supposed to be enough as long as one takes proper care of the fish in the first place

I do see the golden sprinkles on his tail, and even on his head!! I'm so sorry, wish I would've noticed earlier

Always when quarantining, you should have medication in the tank from the start, but only the kind of medication that means, salt or Melafix + Pimafix, since these are natural remedies and safer to use by the home aquarist.

Here is a summary of advice for quarantine (from this thread):

It sounds like there should always be salt for quarantine. Is it 1 Tablespoon per 5 gals water?

Would it be best to add the Melafix and Pimafix right away, or only if I notice something? The Melafix bottle says to always use for the first 3 days.